


Papa Complex

by Brain_Flower



Series: Valentine [1]
Category: Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Anxiety, Daddy Kink, Depression, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slade being a soft baby because I love him, Soft Boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:48:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22255933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brain_Flower/pseuds/Brain_Flower
Summary: Slade Wilson knew the Bats pack of brats would all have Daddy issues, he just doesn’t expect Dick out of all of them to spin his into a kink.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson
Series: Valentine [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803667
Comments: 25
Kudos: 316





	Papa Complex

**Author's Note:**

> If this sounds familiar it probably is! Because of my own anxiety I deleted this and a handful of other works that included some VERY VERY old fics. This left me with just two Glee ffs I wrote a few years ago that I genuinely love. 
> 
> Couple things I want to address: this now has a ‘real’ summary that isn’t a snippet of fic. I know that bothers some people and while I’m aware I cannot and will not please everyone I don’t want this simple thing to be the reason someone gets upset. 
> 
> I apologize to anyone who may have been unhappy with a tumblr post I made that I’m not going to mention in detail. If you know, you know. If not then it may have nothing to do with you. 
> 
> All that out of the way, if anyone is still reading this I’m posting this for a sense or normalcy. My city in the south was hit very hard with tornados early Saturday morning around 4am. The devastation in my city and surrounding cities as well as surrounding counties and surrounding southern states is massive and we are trying very hard right now to pick up the pieces and put ourselves back together. We could really use some positive energy and thoughts right now if you guys would try and think about us. Thanks for listening! Sorry to keep dragging on about things. 
> 
> This doesn’t follow any kind of timeline, don’t hold that against me.

The first time Dick accidentally calls Slade Daddy in bed neither of them talk about it. Its been a long night, patrol was rough and when he got back to his apartment Slade was there, feet thrown up on Dick’s coffee table and a glass of whiskey in his hand. 

Slade had not been there when he left but Dick is never surprised to find the mercenary in his apartment. Slade comes and goes as he pleases. There’s no telling him what to do. Ever. “Come here, Kid.” Slade says low and slow, never looking up from his tablet, “Let me look at that shiner.” 

Slade ices his black eye. Dick finishes Slade’s whiskey. They’re in bed. Dick throws out the word ‘Daddy’ without thinking. Slade hums. And then when they’re just laying in bed, glow of the city the only light in his dark room, Dick feels the need to apologize. To say he’s sorry to Slade for saying what he said. But Slade doesn’t mention it. He closes his eye and runs his fingers through Dick’s hair 

Dick’s trying his hardest not to apologize so much though. Especially after sex. He’s got a bad habit of doing that with all his partners because in the moment he’s not really thinking he’s just feeling and saying whatever comes to mind, filter be damned. 

His past partners shook it off. Babs, Kory, Wally, Roy, whoever. They didn’t respond. They didn’t care. They didn’t ask what he was sorry about. When Dick apologized to Slade the first time they slept together, tangled afterwards in an abundance of fluffy pillows and high thread count sheets, Slade had asked “For what?” Dick should have figured that was coming, nothing gets by Slade without it being stored away in his brain for now or later. Whenever he chooses to indulge in his collection of information and ticks and facts. 

“Dunno.” Dick had whispered with a shrug, head on Slade’s chest because he really didn’t know. He never had to know, he just always felt like saying he was sorry just in case someone needed to hear it. Sometimes the only way to make the hollow feeling in his chest disappear was to say sorry even if he wasn’t sure why he was saying it. 

Slade had rolled over, cupped Dick’s face with a large hand and pressed his mouth to Dick’s forehead, “Hormones drop after sex.” He said gently, “And sometimes it makes people feel angry or sad or lost. It’s called post coital dysphoria. Lots of people experience it.” 

“And what do I do about it?” 

Slade had gotten up then, walked to the bathroom, turned the taps on, came back with a warm wash cloth and wiped Dick down. His face, his chest, his belly and as he did so he pressed his mouth to Dick’s throat and cheek and jaw and kissed his skin. 

When he got up again he took the cloth with him, dropped it in the sink, and was back with a glass of water and a pack of fruit snacks Dick had in his cabinet. Slade ripped them open with his teeth and handed them to Dick, “Eat.” He commanded gently and then went back into the bathroom. The taps finally shut off, “Then come take a bath.” 

“It’s okay to be sad, Grayson.” Slade whispered in his ear while Dick sat against his chest in the tub, “You just need to learn to deal with it instead of keeping it to yourself. It’s not good for you.” 

Now Slade comforting him becomes a regular occurrence. Dick’s emotions can’t leave him alone after sex so neither does Slade. He’ll pet Dick, touch his face, his hair, his arms. He’ll get up and get Dick some water or tea and a snack. It’s usually fruit because even though this is supposed to be about comforting Dick, Slade’s militaristic lifestyle won’t let him stray from healthy snacks only if he was eating after midnight. 

Slade doesn’t mention Dick using the word Daddy at all. Dick has told him before and he’ll say it again “I have way too much to discuss with my therapist already without adding daddy issues on top of it.” Although it is Daddy issues, Slade imagines that most of the bat brats would have daddy issues of some sort being as Bruce Wayne was so standoffish and emotionally distant. 

Slade just didn’t expect Dick of all people to spin his problems with Bruce into a kink. He doesn’t bring it up but he stores it up for a rainy day. He can tell Dick’s embarrassed about it so he just stays quiet and continues about his standard aftercare routine with Dick to make his favorite little bird not feel so sad. If Slade asks him about it now it might result in Dick shutting down and he despises when Dick shuts down. 

Slade kisses a sleepy Dick goodbye in the morning, leaves Dick’s apartment in Blüdhaven and ends up leaving for a month on a contract. The original plan was not for it to last this long but it does. And he hates that because leaving an emotionally vulnerable Dick Grayson to his own thoughts for a couple hours is stupid let alone an entire month.

He hopes there will be someone to check on Dick while he’s gone. 

When he comes back the first thing he does is check on Dick. He’s heard about Blockbuster and Dick’s apartment from around the grid but when he’s on a mission he’s nearly impossible to get ahold of. And he does not reach out to anyone else until he’s done. 

On his arrival back in Blüdhaven Slade is slightly shocked to see his best safe house lived out of. By no other than Dick Grayson of course. It’s surprisingly clean for the state Dick left everything in typically but the signs are there. A box of lucky charms on his kitchen counter that he would never buy or eat, and a soft T-shirt that definitely doesn’t fit Slade. 

There’s also a ridiculous looking exotic short haired cat on the back of his couch and he sighs, changing into sweatpants and then collapsing on the couch. 

“Welcome, I guess.” He tells the cat and reaches for its pink collar to look at her tags. Sure enough Dick Grayson’s name is on the back of the pink heart shaped tag but it doesn’t include a phone number or an address for if she gets lost. There’s just a message saying she’s microchipped and her vaccinations are up to date. Her name is Valentine. 

Valentine rubs her face into Slade’s white hair until he decides it’s late enough to feed her. Dick has a couple cans of wet food and Slade opens one and shakes it out into a fucking white ceramic bowl that has Valentine’s name engraved on it. 

Dick’s really doing the most for this strange looking cat. He stands in his kitchen and looks through his fridge finding it frustratingly empty. The least Dick could do was go grocery shopping for someone other than the cat if he was going to move in. 

He makes a peanut butter sandwich and eats it, leaning against the cabinets and watching Valentine lick at her food delicately. He washes the peanut butter down with a Corona Dick has in the fridge. It’s awful he hates it. One of the worst meals he’s had since the army. MRE’s were better than peanut butter sandwiches and cheap beer. 

He’s nearly asleep with Valentine taking up residence on his chest when he hears his living room window open and Dick Grayson quietly murmurs, “Valentine? Here kitty kitty.” 

Valentine does not move from Slade’s chest and soon Slade is blessed with the entertainment of watching Dick struggle out of his suit without even realizing Slade is home, in the bed with the cat on top of him, unsatisfied with a peanut butter sandwich and cheap beer in his belly, and maybe just slightly in love with Dick after such a long time away. 

When Dick finally rids himself of his suit and turns around towards the bed he startles at the sight of Slade leaning against the padded headboard, one arm behind his head, and the other scratching Valentine’s stubby ears. 

“Hi.” Dick whispers as Slade reaches over and flicks his bedside lamp on, “Hi.” He repeats for good measure. 

“Hi pretty bird.” Slade answers him back, “Glad to see you and Valentine made yourself at home.” He says a bit sarcastically. 

“I missed you.” Dick deflects, pulling on one of Slade’s worn T-shirt’s and crawling into bed. He’s not looking at Slade so much as he is Valentine. He picks her up, cradles her in his arms like a baby and rocks her. 

“Mind telling me why there’s a really funky looking cat in my safehouse?” Slade asks. 

“I’m here too.” Dick says, pulling his blue eyes away from the cat. 

“Yes you’re here too.” Slade agrees, “You don’t concern me so much. You exhibit all sorts of strange behavior I expect it of you, it entertains me. However, there’s a peculiar looking cat in my apartment as well. That is not something I expected.” 

“My therapist said maybe having a dog or a cat would help me cope with my anxiety.” Dick answers, scrubbing at his nose, “I thought she was kinda crazy but then I had an animal complaint call at work and took a loose Pit to the shelter to wait for his owner to pick him up and while I was there I just looked around. And Valentine was just so cute. Look at her eyes, they’re huge.” 

Slade hums, “And has she helped your anxiety?” He asked, “She doesn’t seem to be helping your allergies.” Of course Dick would pick a cat and not a dog. Dogs needed walks and attention and play time and Dick’s busy schedule didn’t allow that. Even though he was allergic to cats he of course sacrificed that for her, “Gold fish don’t need that much attention.” 

“Goldfish swim in their poop.” Dick frowns at him, “my allergies are fine, I’m taking something for it.” He sets Valentine down and crawls up Slade’s body, “I missed you too not just Valentine. I didn’t know you would be gone for so long.” 

“I didn’t know either.” Slade murmurs, pulling Dick against his chest and rubbing his back, “I heard about what happened with your apartment and Tarantula and Blüdhaven PD.” Dick’s hair is getting long now that he’s off the force. 

Dick shakes his head, presses his nose into Slade’s throat, “I don’t...I don’t want to talk about it.” He mumbles, tracing patterns on Slade’s shirt, “I’d rather ride you.” Slade tenses for only a second, not expecting such a bold thing out of the kid’s mouth. 

“Valentine has to go.” He says, “She’s not gonna stay here and look at me with those fuckin eyes.” 

Dick grins at him, picks Valentine up and carries her out of the room. Presumably the living room where she’s made her home on the back of Slade’s couch. When he comes back he takes his shirt and boxer briefs off. Slade is equally as naked and watching Dick from a singular eye, Dick crawls back up the bed. 

He calls Slade Daddy as he finishes and once again Slade stays quiet on it for a while. He brings Dick a glass of water and allows Valentine to run back in the room in front of him, meowing softly as she hops up on the bed and settles at a good distance away from the two of them. Later when they’ve calmed down Slade scrubs a hand down his beard and looks over at Dick who is laying on his tummy, one leg hooked over Slade’s body with only his T-shirt on, “Don’t you think.” He starts and rolls his head to look back up at the ceiling, “That I’m more of a Papa than a Daddy?” He asks. 

Dick pulls a face at him, “Aren’t Papa’s like old men?” He asks. 

Slade snorts at him, “I am old, baby bird.” 

“You aren’t really that old if you’re immortal.” Dick whispers and tugs at Slade’s chest hair, “You’re pretty young all things considered.” 

“Thanks for making me feel good, sweetheart.” Slade’s smile is toothy and a little blissed out. He presses a kiss to Dick’s forehead, “That mean I can’t be Papa?” 

Dick shuffles until he’s slightly sideways in Slade’s king size bed, cheek now pressed more towards Slade’s ribs and belly. He turns his mouth into the warm flesh and blows a raspberry, “I’ll call you Papa bear if you like it better.” He says “Or I’ll stop, I don’t realize I’m doing it most the time I know it makes a lot of people uncomfortable.” 

“Doesn’t make me uncomfortable.” Slade assures, reaching down to run a hand through Dick’s hair once again, “But I think I’m too old to be daddy. My kids hardly called me Daddy.” 

“They call you Papa?” Dick teases. 

“Fuck no.” Slade snatches at Dick’s hair a little then pats his chest, “Come. Claim your spot before Valentine takes it. Tell Papa how long you were planning on staying in my apartment.” 

“Indefinitely if you’re okay with that.” Dick shrugs, “I realize I haven’t been invited and I should stop making it a habit of inviting myself to things and places people don’t want me at but after the explosion it’s all I could think of that wasn’t the manor. I really didn’t want to see B.” 

“I don’t care, little one.” Slade says gently, “I don’t care if Valentine stays either as long as you’re still able to breathe. You want access to my bank account since you’re here?” 

Dick smiles against Slade’s chest, “You’re good Slade Wilson even if you don’t want to admit it.” 

“Shut up and let Papa sleep.” Slade grumbles, eye closed, “You wear an old man out with all your energy. In the morning we’ll move all the rest of your shit in and I’ll call the bank and make sure you have a card in the mail.” He reaches across the bed and scoops Valentine up to settle on his other side. She purrs against his throat. 

“‘kay Papa Bear.” Is all Dick manages before he’s out for the night, Slade and Valentine following right behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Today is my birthday and I wanted to give myself the gift of getting this out of my drafts again. Drop me some birthday wishes or kudos below, I’m celebrating the second anniversary of my 21st birthday! If you remember reading this before and the fics that followed as well as 2 or 3 other fics outside of this just know I’m not sure at this point if the other ones are going up at this time. This one just happens to be the one I like most.


End file.
